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The leg bones of birds are the heaviest, contributing to a low center of gravity, which aids in flight. A bird's skeleton accounts for only about 5% of its total body weight. They have a greatly elongate tetradiate pelvis, similar to some reptiles. The hind limb has an intra-tarsal joint found also in some reptiles.
The furcula (Latin for "little fork"; pl.: furculae) [a] or wishbone is a forked bone found in most birds and some species of non-avian dinosaurs, and is formed by the fusion of the two clavicles. [1] In birds, its primary function is in the strengthening of the thoracic skeleton to withstand the rigors of flight.
The synsacrum is a skeletal structure of birds and other dinosaurs, in which the sacrum is extended by incorporation of additional fused or partially fused caudal or lumbar vertebrae. This structure can only be seen in birds. Some posterior thoracic vertebrae, the lumbar, sacral and a few anterior caudal vertebrae are fused to form a complex ...
The anatomy of bird legs and feet is diverse, encompassing many accommodations to perform a wide variety of functions. [ 1 ] Most birds are classified as digitigrade animals, meaning they walk on their toes rather than the entire foot.
The bones of three fingers are preserved in the bird wing. The question of which fingers they are has been discussed for about 150 years, and an extensive literature is devoted to it. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] The anatomical, paleontological, and molecular data suggests that these are fingers 1–3, but embryological data suggests that these are actually ...
Diagram showing homologous bones of the skulls of a monitor lizard and a crocodile. Jugal bone labelled Ju, in pale green, at centre left. The jugal is a skull bone found in most reptiles, amphibians and birds. In mammals, the jugal is often called the malar or zygomatic.
Diagram of skeletal structure and musculature of a bird's wing. A coracoid [a] is a paired bone which is part of the shoulder assembly in all vertebrates except therian mammals (marsupials and placentals).
Birds (class Aves) – winged, bipedal, endothermic (warm-blooded), egg-laying, vertebrate animals. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most varied of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic, to the Antarctic.